


Bonus Round

by TheLegendOfChel (Chilz)



Series: Bonding Moments [2]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Episode: s07e04 The Feud, Game Shows, Game show episode, Light Bondage, M/M, Pining Keith (Voltron), Pining Lance (Voltron), True Love, ambiguously takes place during season 7, and now it’s 5k words and no actual smut, but hopefully y’all enjoy it anyway, garfle warfle snick, i don’t know what happened, like the feud episode obviously happened but everything else is kinda ignored, then it grew a life of its own, this was supposed to be a short pwp crack fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-30
Updated: 2018-09-30
Packaged: 2019-07-20 15:37:20
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,381
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16140278
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Chilz/pseuds/TheLegendOfChel
Summary: Lance finds himself back on Garfle Warfle Snick to participate in a Bonus Round. The prize: Keith.





	Bonus Round

The smoke cleared and Lance opened his eyes. He took in the gaudy lights, the stage, and the podiums.

He was on the set of that stupid fucking game show, only this time he was alone and wearing his casual clothes instead of his armor.

“Hey, what gives?” Lance demanded. “I thought we won!”

“Congratulations, Lance!” Bob shouted jovially as he hovered closer. “You’ve been chosen to play the Bonus Round!”

A large neon sign materialized and flashed what Lance could only assume read “Bonus Round” in alien letters. The unseen crowd cheered.

“Now, now, settle down, everyone,” Bob said. “You see, Lance, this is truly a once in a lifetime opportunity. Where the normal game merely wins you your freedom, the Bonus Round actually offers a more tangible prize! But!” Bob raised one green finger. “It comes with a certain amount of risk. No risk, no reward, am I right?”

Lance narrowed his eyes. “What kind of risk and reward are we talking about?”

“It’s simple, really,” Bob replied. “If you win, your heart’s greatest desire will be yours! But if you lose,” Lance leaned back as the alien invaded his personal space, practically nose to nose with the paladin, “well, let’s just say you’ll have to find a new dream.”

Lance scowled. “I don’t suppose I have any choice in the matter?”

“Nonsense, you already won the main game so you can leave at any time! But,” Bob peered at him slyly, “are you sure you want to? Are you willing to give up the chance to win the very thing you want most in the universe?”

Lance hesitated. The thing he wanted most? He wasn’t even sure what that was. A faster way home? A guarantee of his friends’ safety in this war? If Lance was being honest, the thing he had always desired was True Love with capital letters, but he doubted that could be won on a game show, no matter what Reality TV tried to get him to believe.

Seeing Lance’s ambivalence, Bob said, “Tell you what. How about I show you what the prize is, and then you can make your decision.”

Lance eyed the host suspiciously. He wasn’t stupid. He knew if he saw something that was truly his ‘greatest desire,’ it was unlikely he’d be able to walk out.

But he was awfully curious.

Apparently Bob took Lance’s silence as agreement because he snapped his fingers. A small cloud of smoke poofed into existence revealing a confused figure.

Lance’s jaw dropped.

“Keith?!”

Keith looked around. “Lance? What’s going on? Why are we back here?” Keith glanced down. “And why am I wearing my Marmora suit?”

“So what do you say, Lance?” Bob asked. “Will you play?”

“This isn’t funny!” Lance glared. “Send us home! Right now!”

Bob shrugged. “Alright, alright. You can go if that’s what you want. But Keith is staying.”

“What?!” Lance and Keith shouted.

“But we both won the game before!” Lance argued.

“Yes, that’s true. But while you’re here as a player, Keith has returned as a prize. Sorry, but the only way he’s leaving is if you win him back,” he said, not sounding sorry at all.

“That’s not fair!” Lance said.

Keith had apparently had enough of Bob’s bullshit and swiftly lunged at the host from behind. Without turning around, Bob snapped his fingers and engulfed Keith in another cloud of smoke.

Keith fell to the ground with a yelp, his wrists and ankles bound in glowing metal cuffs.

“Tsk tsk,” Bob smirked. “This is what happens when you don’t behave, folks.”

He waved his hand and the cuffs around Keith’s wrists yanked upwards so that the paladin was dangling slightly above the ground. Keith struggled furiously to no effect.

“Let me go!”

Ignoring the spew of curses, the game show host turned back to Lance. “So?”

Lance looked from Bob’s smug face to Keith who was tugging against the invisible force that held him.

“If I win,” Lance said warily, “you’ll let Keith go?”

“If that’s what you want,” Bob agreed.

“And if I lose?”

“Like I said, high risk, high reward. If you win, you get Keith. If you lose, well, it’s unlikely either of you will be leaving. Alive, anyway.”

The crowd laughed.

“What?” Keith shouted. “No, Lance, don’t do it! It’s not worth it, we’ll find another way—”

Another cloud of smoke cut him off. When it cleared, there was a strip of what looked an awful lot like duct tape covering Keith’s mouth.

“I think that’s enough out of you,” Bob said blithely. “Time’s running out, Lance. What’s your decision?”

His decision? Between Keith’s freedom and Lance’s life? Lance didn’t even have to think twice.

“I’ll do it.”

“Excellent!” Bob turned to the camera. “Will Lance win Keith’s heart? Or will he lose him forever? We’ll find out right after these messages!”

“Wait, what?”

The crowd went wild as Bob snapped his fingers and engulfed the whole studio with smoke. Lance took a deep breath and just hoped it wasn’t another quiz.

Once the smoke cleared, Lance found himself on a raised platform about twenty feet wide, high above a seemingly endless ocean. No matter what direction Lance looked, there was nothing but water.

In front of him were several more platforms of various sizes lined up in a row. Each had some kind of obstacle on it. Flaming hoops, swinging blades, monkey bars. One even had what looked like a small laser tag maze complete with enemies.

And at the end of the very last platform was Keith, still bound and gagged, dangling a hundred feet over open water.

In the back of his mind, Lance was vaguely reminded of the training montage from the movie Hercules.

“And we’re back!” Bob grinned. “Okay, Lance, I know you’re not one for pop quizzes, but can you tell me what this challenge looks like to you?”

Lance glared but didn’t rise to the bait. His pride wasn’t worth risking Keith’s safety.

“Looks like an obstacle course,” he said cooly.

“Correct,” Bob cried. “Each one of these ten platforms offers a unique challenge that you’ll have to pass in order to reach your prize! There’s no time limit, but keep in mind poor Keith probably isn’t very comfortable up there.”

Another laugh track played even though they weren’t in the studio anymore.

“Whenever you’re ready just use this rope to swing over to the first challenge! Don’t worry, we’ll start you off with an easy one!”

Lance took a deep breath and looked over at Keith. The other paladin was watching with wide, concerned eyes. Lance shot him a confident grin.

“Don’t worry, Keith!” Lance shouted. “I got this!”

Keith looked at him for a moment before determination crossed his face. He gave Lance a firm nod.

Bolstered, Lance grabbed the rope and swung to the first platform.

Bob was right, the challenge was pretty easy. Lance just had to hop across some moving platforms and time it out so the rotating pillars didn’t knock him off.

The second platform was the one with the flaming hoops, but this turned out to be not too bad either. They looked intimidating, but with his long legs, Lance was able to jump through even the highest ones without too much difficulty.

The third one was some kind of block pushing puzzle. Lance figured Bob was trying to throw him off, still under the impression that Lance was ‘the dumb one,’ but joke’s on him because Lance had grown up playing The Legend of Zelda and had plenty of practice solving these kinds of puzzles.

The fourth one was when things started to get a little trickier. It was another physical challenge, but this time Lance had to cross a narrow balancing beam while a handful of guillotine blades swung back and forth like clock pendulums. Lance went slow and steady, and managed to make it to the other side, but his legs were shaking more than he’d care to admit.

As soon as Lance stepped onto the fifth platform, Bob reappeared.

“Congratulations, Lance! You’ve made it to the halfway point!”

The audience cheered.

“That last challenge was pretty rough, so why don’t you take a little break with this next one? It’s more of a...mental test, so you can rest your body. Here, we’ll even give Keith a break too.”

With a snap of Bob’s fingers, Keith appeared next to Lance. He was still bound and probably sore from hanging in the air for so long, so he immediately tipped over and fell against Lance’s chest. Lance caught him and held him close.

“Are you okay?” Lance asked softly.

Keith shot him an incredulous look. He pointed back at the platforms Lance had passed and then at Lance himself. Lance offered him a reassuring smile.

“Me? I’m fine, man. I’m more worried about you. I mean, you’re only here because of me, right?”

Keith gazed at him in confusion. He tried to say something but all that came out was a muffled, “Mmph.” He glared down at the gag covering his mouth and tried to pull it off but it didn’t budge. Keith turned to Bob furiously.

“Sorry,” Bob shrugged, “but removing that would be counterproductive to this next challenge. We can’t let Lance cheat, after all.”

“Cheat?” Lance repeated as dread grew in his gut.

“That’s right! Like I said, this challenge is more of a mental test. A chance for you to redeem your...subpar performance from last time. And luckily for you, this one is even about your favorite subject!”

A large multicolored wheel materialized above them with Keith’s beautiful face pictured on the middle. The two paladins were so taken aback, they didn’t notice a hover chair identical to Bob’s also appear behind them until it slid forward and knocked against the back of Lance’s knees, causing him to fall onto it with a surprised yelp. He still had Keith in his arms, so the other boy got pulled down too. The end result was Lance sprawled on the hover chair with Keith sitting on his lap as the chair flew upward to be level with Bob and the wheel.

Their gazes met and both blushed bright red. Keith quickly averted his eyes, but he didn’t try to move away. Despite the dire situation, Lance’s heart soared. It was like something out of a dream.

“You guessed it, folks!” Bob announced, snapping Lance out of his daze. “Every question will be about our dear Black Paladin, Keith! Does Loverboy Lance truly know the object of his desires? Or is his love only skin deep?”

Okay, nevermind. This was a nightmare.

It was Lance’s turn to steadfastly avoid Keith’s stare as his face felt like it was on fire.

“Spin that wheel, Lance!”

Almost grateful for the distraction, Lance focused on the wheel in front of him. It looked a lot like the one from Wheel of Fortune, except instead of money it had words like “Favorite Things,” “Pet Peeves,” and “Tragic Backstory.” And, of course, Keith’s face plastered on the center. Lance reached around the boy in his lap and spun the wheel.

“And the first category is: Favorite Things!” Bob conjured a small card to read off of. “Okay, Lance, the question is: What is Keith’s favorite animal?”

“Oh! I know that!” In his excitement, Lance nearly knocked Keith off his lap but managed to grab the other paladin at the last second. He jabbed a triumphant finger at the game show host. “Keith loves hippos! Because they look cute, but are actually one of the most dangerous creatures on earth!”

“Correct!” Bob shouted as a _ding ding ding_ sounded from somewhere.

Lance turned his grin on Keith and froze. His arm was still wrapped around Keith’s waist from when he caught him and their faces were quite close. Lance cleared his throat self consciously and loosened his grip, allowing Keith some room.

“Next question,” Bob said. “Spin that wheel!”

Lance obeyed, cheeks still pink. The wheel landed on “Fears.”

“Alright, Lance. Here’s the question: What is Keith’s greatest concern as the leader of Voltron?”

Lance’s heart sunk. He should have known it wouldn’t keep being as simple as just listing Keith’s favorite animal. Keith himself looked incredibly cagey. He shifted a bit away from Lance and curled in on himself, avoiding eye contact.

“I think,” Lance said slowly, “Keith is worried about being a good leader, but not in the sense that he doubts his abilities. I mean, sure, there’s a little bit of that, who doesn’t worry that they’ll mess up, right? But sometimes I think Keith is afraid of being a good leader, because he thinks that means he’s replaced Shiro for good, and he doesn’t want that.”

Keith stared at Lance with wide eyes. Lance held his gaze and tried to convey the honesty in his words. “But Keith is wrong, on both fronts. Things started out a little rough, but you’re an amazing leader, Keith. You’ve come so far, and you aren’t afraid to ask the rest of us to help you, and you listen to us. And I don’t know if Shiro will ever return to being the Black Paladin, but you replacing him doesn’t mean he’s gone. No matter what happens, we all have a role with Voltron. Even if we couldn’t fly the lions anymore, we’d still be a team.”

Keith’s eyes were suspiciously wet. He tried to hide it by tucking his face into Lance’s shoulder as he gripped the front of Lance’s jacket with trembling fingers.

Lance was just about to place a comforting hand on Keith’s back when a cheerful _ding ding ding_ startled both of them.

“Excellent answer! Where was that eloquence during the real game, am I right, folks?”

Lance glared at Bob as the laugh track played. Keith looked like he wanted to fight the host, so Lance tightened his hold. Who knows what Bob would do if Keith attacked him again.

At Bob’s prompting, Lance spun the wheel. The next question was another easy one, “What’s the first thing Keith would eat if he got back to Earth,” to which the answer was, “A meal at the nearest fast food restaurant.”

The fourth spin, however, landed on “Secrets.”

“What?” Lance frowned. “How am I supposed to know something that’s a secret?”

Bob shrugged. “Just because it’s a secret to most people, doesn’t mean there aren’t a few who are privy to it. Maybe it’s a secret between friends. Or it could be something Keith thought was secret but everyone actually knows. Only the card will tell.”

“Fine, then read it already,” Lance grumbled.

“What is Keith’s biggest sexual fantasy?”

Lance’s brain screeched to a halt.

Keith looked absolutely mortified, understandable given the situation. He hid his bright red face in his hands.

With a dry swallow, Lance wrapped his fingers around Keith’s wrists and gently pulled them away.

“Hey, man, I know this is super awkward," Lance muttered, "but we have to get out of here and there is no way I’m gonna be able to guess this without some kind of clue.”

Keith looked like he was seriously debating just hurling himself off the platform but after a moment he met Lance’s eyes. Somehow even redder than before, Keith reluctantly glanced down at the cuffs binding his wrists together and then gave Lance a look. His gaze flitted between the two until Lance finally cottoned on.

“You...like bondage?”

Keith gave a tiniest of nods.

Lance couldn’t help but ask, “Are you...turned on right now?”

The look Keith shot him could have sent Zarkon running for the hills. He jerked his head at Bob pointedly.

“Oh, right. It’s probably not as sexy when you’ve been tied up because of an annoying, weird, little green alien.”

Lance gave his answer and the _ding ding ding_ rang out. They were both relieved to move on, but Lance still tucked that little piece of information away in his brain for a later date.

“Okay, Lance, final question! And this one isn’t random, I’m afraid, but was actually voted for by the audience!”

Dread returned to Lance’s stomach. He tried to tell himself this whole thing was probably rigged anyway, but there was no way this question was gonna be easy. He could only hope it was one of the obscure Keith facts Lance happened to know from his pastime of obsessively watching Keith over the years.

“What is Keith’s favorite color?”

Lance blinked.

“What? That’s obvious, it’s r—”

A sharp tug at his sleeve stopped Lance and he looked over at Keith. Keith still looked like he wanted the ground to swallow him, but Lance wasn’t sure why. This question wasn’t anywhere near as embarrassing as the last one. Right?

“It’s...not red?” Lance asked. His eyes flicked over to Bob, but the host didn’t appear to mind that Lance was getting help again.

Keith shook his head. After a moment of hesitation, he pointed at Lance’s eyes.

“Your favorite color is...blue?”

Keith shook his head again impatiently. Blushing furiously, he jabbed his finger toward Lance’s eyes with a scowl.

Lance frowned as he tried to interpret Keith’s message. A thought suddenly occurred to him, but surely that was just wishful thinking? There was no way Keith meant what Lance hoped he meant. There was only one way to find out though, and if he was wrong, well, then they’d just both be embarrassed, he supposed.

“Your favorite color is...the color of my eyes?”

 _Ding ding ding_!

The audience cheered and confetti rained down from the sky, but Lance didn’t notice at all, too busy staring at Keith. For the first time, he entertained the thought that maybe, just maybe, Keith felt the same way he did.

“Keith—”

“Congratulations, Lance!” Bob swooped in. “You passed the fifth challenge! I hope this was a nice little break for you because the next five are gonna knock your socks off!”

The wheel disappeared and the hover chair lowered back down to the platform. Lance helped Keith to his feet but when he moved to pull away, the other paladin held his grip on Lance’s hand. Keith shot a worried look at the platforms Lance would face next.

Lance wanted to reassure Keith, tell him everything would be alright, but honestly, he wasn’t sure himself. The last couple of challenges were fairly brutal, and it was only going to get worse. But he knew doubt wouldn’t do them any favors so he braced himself to lie through his teeth.

Before he could say anything, however, Keith turned back to him. Gone was the concern in his eyes, replaced by pure confidence and determination. Though Keith couldn’t convey himself through words, Lance had no problem understanding.

 _You can do this,_  Keith’s eyes said as he squeezed Lance’s hand. _I believe in you_.

Lance felt something warm rise in his chest. He opened his mouth but Bob swooped in once again.

“Sorry to interrupt this touching moment, but it’s time for Keith to return to his place.”

Bob clapped his hands and the cuffs around Keith’s wrists yanked him out of Lance’s hold.

“Keith!”

As Keith dangled over the edge of the last platform, Lance turned his glare at Bob.

“Is this really necessary?” Lance demanded. “Couldn’t he just sit in a chair like you do or something?”

“It’s called showmanship, Lance,” Bob rolled his eyes. “You know, pizzaz. Drama. Razzle dazzle.”

Lance growled.

“Plus it gives you more incentive! Now head on over to that platform.”

Lance stomped over to the ledge where the rope to swing across hung. He reached out to grab it but hesitated. Taking a deep breath, Lance balled his hand into a fist and withdrew it. He locked eyes with Keith and tried to put everything he was feeling into his gaze.

“Keith!” Lance shouted. “Just hold on, okay? I’m coming to get you! I’m gonna pass these trials and we’re gonna go home, and then I’m gonna ask you something really important! I promise!”

By the end of his impromptu declaration, Lance’s heart raced like he’d run a marathon. He held his breath as Keith stared back with wide eyes.

After a moment, those beautiful eyes narrowed and he gave Lance a sharp nod. It felt different from the exchange they’d had right before the first challenge. Then, Lance had felt like he was putting on a front to make Keith feel better. This time, however, it felt real. This time, Lance was ready to do whatever he had to to not only save Keith, but to fight for their potential future together.

Newfound confidence singing in his veins, Lance grabbed the rope and swung across.

The sixth challenge turned out to be a rock climbing wall several feet high, which wouldn’t have been too difficult except that it was also invisible, so Lance had to be extremely careful when searching for the next handhold. Climbing back down the other side was even more daunting.

The seventh challenge was a shooting range, but instead of a gun, Lance was given a futuristic bow and arrows. Lance was still in his element though, and aced the trial.

The eighth platform was covered in squares of different colors like a rainbow chess board, all of which had different effects, and Lance had to navigate across while only touching specific squares, like a demented game of hopscotch.

The ninth resembled a small maze one might use for laser tag and Lance had to sneak past several sentries patrolling the area.

Finally, Lance made it to the final challenge. The tenth platform was by far the largest, spanning about the size of a high school gymnasium. The other big difference that set it apart was that it was bare. All of the previous platforms already had the structures or objects needed to complete the trial. This one, however, was an empty floor, and the only thing in sight was Keith, still hanging from his wrists just beyond the opposite edge.

“Congratulations for making this far, Lance!” Bob said. “If you can beat this last test, you win!”

“So what do I have to do?”

“It’s simple, really. Just get to Keith before the timer runs out.”

A large clock materialized above Keith’s head. The counter read ten minutes.

“That’s it?” Lance asked skeptically.

“Yup! Now get ready, cause the clock’s about to start tickin’! Oh, and you’re gonna need this.” Bob tossed Lance an object which he instinctively caught.

It was his bayard.

“Wha—”

“Ready, set, go!”

A loud noise similar to an airhorn rang out and Bob flew away. Lance still wasn’t quite sure what was going on, but he started to make his way towards Keith. He kept his guard up and activated his bayard, knowing full well Bob wouldn’t have given it to him if it was a matter of merely crossing the stage.

Sure enough, just as Lance neared the halfway point, his instincts told him something was wrong. Up ahead, Keith’s eyes suddenly widened and he struggled against his bonds with a muffled shout. Lance dogerolled to the side just in time to avoid the gun blast from behind.

He whirled around, bayard raised, and froze.

It was him. Lance. Like someone had copied and pasted him into existence. Only, something was off, Lance realized. Like the colors of his clothes and body were slightly washed out. Not a perfect duplicate, like the clone of Shiro had been, but a cheap imitation.

An imitation that had transformed his own knockoff bayard into an Altean broadsword and was charging at him.

Lance shot off a few rounds but the Fake Lance was too fast. He ducked and weaved and before Lance knew it, he had to use his gun as a shield to block the blade swinging at his neck. Lance angled his blaster slightly and fired at Fake Lance’s face, but Fake Lance managed to jump out of the way.

This at least gave Lance a second to breath. After a moment of consideration, Lance turned his own bayard into a sword as well. Lowering himself into the stance Allura had shown him, Lance lunged at his opponent.

As they traded blows, Lance did his best to analyse the fake’s movements, and after awhile started to notice a pattern. When he held back and waited for Fake Lance to make the first move, the copy was swift and unpredictable. If Lance attacked first, however, Fake Lance tended to mirror his movements. It was actually really annoying to deal with, but it gave him an idea of how to fight him.

The large clock starting beeping as it counted down the remaining sixty seconds. Lance cursed. He hadn’t realized so much time had passed. If he didn’t get to Keith soon…

No, Lance wouldn’t let that happen. Keith was relying on him. This copy was standing in the way of Lance and the boy he loved, and it was going down.

With a roar, Lance lunged at his opponent once again. Fake Lance mirrored his movement, but at the last second, Lance feinted, twirled around, and swung his sword from the other direction. The copy wasn’t able to react in time and the blade impaled him through the chest. Lance watched with a weird sense of disconnect as his double collapsed onto the ground and went still. This was probably gonna give him nightmares for the foreseeable future, but right now he had more pressing concerns.

Lance raced as fast as he could to the edge of the platform, his heart sinking as the clock ticked down to the last few seconds.

“Keith!”

He wasn’t going to make it.

Lance watched as if in slow motion as the timer hit zero and the invisible force holding Keith aloft released him. Inches from Lance’s outstretched hand, Keith plummeted towards the water below.

“No!”

Without hesitation, Lance jumped. He streamlined his body to catch up to Keith and grabbed his hand to pull him close. One arm wrapped around Keith’s waist and the other gently held the back of Keith’s head to tuck his face under Lance’s chin. Keith’s fingers clutched the front of Lance’s shirt.

“I’m sorry,” Lance squeezed his eyes shut as they fell down down down. “I love you.”

They hit the water and Lance jolted awake.

Heart pounding, he pushed himself upright and frantically looked around.

Lance slowly recognized his surroundings as his breathing evened out. They were still on their way back to Earth and had stopped on an allied planet to rest and resupply. The locals were more than happy to provide each of them with their own room in the city’s fanciest hotel, which was why Lance was in a bed and not sleeping in his lion.

Lance inhaled deeply and ran his hands over his face.

“Was that all just a dream?” he muttered to himself.

“Mmmph.”

Lance jumped and jerked his head toward the soft sound. Laying on the other side of the large bed was Keith, still bound and gagged.

When Lance merely stared at him, mouth agape, Keith scowled and squirmed closer. Snapping out of his stupor, Lance hastily helped him into a sitting position. Keith struggled against the cuffs around his wrists to no avail.

Now that they weren't in mortal danger, Lance was able to appreciate how hot Keith looked tied up. However, he doubted Keith would appreciate such a sentiment after what they just went through so Lance shook the thought away and scooted closer.

“Here, let me try.” Lance had won after all, right? Otherwise they wouldn’t be here. So surely Bob had made it so Lance could release Keith.

Keith held out his wrists and Lance fiddled with the cuffs. After a moment, he found what looked like a small fingerprint scanner. Lance pressed his thumb against it and the cuffs fell off. As Lance searched for a similar scanner on the ones around Keith’s ankles, Keith reached up to pull at his gag. Unlike when they were on the game show, the tape peeled off easily.

“Ugh, finally,” Keith grumbled. “At least it wasn’t a pacifier this time.”

Lance dropped both sets of deactivated cuffs onto the mattress and turned to Keith.

“So,” he said after a moment of awkward silence. “I guess that was all real?”

Keith scowled, his cheeks adorably pink. “If by ‘that,’ you mean us being on that stupid game show again, then yes.”

Lance sighed and scrubbed his face. “I’m sorry, Keith.”

“What?” Keith blinked. “Why are you sorry? It wasn’t your fault we got pulled into some cosmic horror TV show.”

“I think it kinda was though? I mean, that you were there, at least.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, Bob said I was chosen for the Bonus Round, so I guess that part’s not my fault, but then he said the prize would be the thing I wanted most, and then you were there, so...yeah.” Lance forced himself to meet Keith’s wide, gorgeous eyes. “You were put in danger because of me, and I’m sorry.”

Keith lowered his gaze and furrowed his eyebrows in thought.

“So,” he finally said softly, “all those things Bob said, during the quiz, I mean, that...you liked me...those were true?”

Lance could feel his ears burning, but he he owed Keith the truth.

“Yeah.”

Keith raised his eyes back up to pin Lance with their intense gaze.

“And what you said at the end, when we were falling into the ocean...did you mean it?”

Mortification bloomed in Lance’s gut. He had half hoped Keith hadn’t heard that. But once again, he forced himself to answer honestly.

“Yes.”

“Oh.”

Keith seemed to ponder this for a little while. His eyes took on a determined sheen and suddenly he was in Lance’s space, practically in his lap.

“Woah, woah,” Lance grabbed Keith’s shoulders and held him at arm’s length. “What are you doing?”

Keith gave an adorably confused pout.

“Um, trying to kiss you?”

“What?” Lance said. “Why?!”

“You said you loved me,” Keith replied defensively. “That’s what people in love do. Right?”

“Well, yeah, but since when do you love me back? Wait,” Lance squinted suspiciously, “this isn’t some weird result of me winning, is it? Bob didn’t like, hypnotize you to fall in love with me, or give me a fake Keith or anything, right?”

“No, you idiot,” Keith’s blush returned as he looked away. “Don’t you remember? During the quiz about me. My favorite color?”

A bubble of hope rose in Lance’s chest. “So, you really love me? You did even before all this happened?”

Keith glanced back at him shyly and nodded. Lance pulled Keith further onto his lap and crushed their lips together, swallowing Keith’s surprised gasp. Keith quickly recovered and wound his arms around Lance’s neck. He let out a tiny, delicious moan as Lance slid one hand under Keith’s shirt to rest on his waist and brought the other up to bury his fingers in Keith’s hair.

“So,” Lance said after they’d pulled apart. “Do you...want to stay here for the night? Just to sleep, I mean,” he hastily added. As much as Lance was excited to explore this new aspect of their relationship, those trials had been exhausting.

Keith smiled softly. “I’d like that.”

He then slipped under the covers and rolled away so his back was to Lance. Before Lance could feel too disappointed, Keith shot him a look over his shoulder, eyebrow raised.

“Well? You gonna spoon me or what?”

Lance grinned. He had always secretly hoped Keith was a cuddler.

Before he joined Keith, Lance picked up the cuffs from where they had fallen on the bed. After a moment of consideration, he stuck them in one of his nearby luggage bags. Now that they knew Lance could unlock them, maybe Keith would be up for wearing them again some time.

Giddy with the thought, Lance dove back under the covers and curled around the other boy. He closed his eyes and couldn’t help but think all those terrible challenges were worth it to finally have Keith in his arms.

**Author's Note:**

> The goal was winning Keith’s love but Lance already had it from the start. So basically, Bob was just fucking with them.
> 
> Also, the thing Lance wanted to ask Keith was to be his boyfriend but he didn’t think about it until the following morning. Keith said yes.
> 
> This was originally going to be a short pwp oneshot with Lance doing maybe one minigame while Keith was a sexy damsel in distress, but it somehow turned into this instead. Sorry if you came here hoping for bondage smut, but I do have more oneshots planned, so please check out my series, Bonding Moments. I'm currently working on a college au, and a rebel spy au, both of which will have plenty of smut, so look forward to those!
> 
> \-----
> 
> Минорно translated this fic into Russian! You can find it here:
> 
> https://ficbook.net/readfic/7804422


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